Of all the wonderful people who have been helping me, Rondi was the latest who went that extra mile. In this case I should say 'miles' because she got up early to take me to an 8:30 appointment at Kaiser She was an utter delight! Not only did I appreciate her help, but I found her company to be fascinating. That's one of the great bonuses of this program: the great people you meet and the way it expands the world for us.

Kris did a great job of being my MedPal for cataract surgery yesterday and a return check-up visit today. She really knows how to be supportive in the moments most needed and keeps track of everything, which is a big help for me.

Submitted by Member Anna

Betty Webster, Nancie Hughes and Philip Packard stretching with yoga teacher Lisa Brooks

Thank you a bundle for the ride you got us to the picnic. Michela is a super sweetie. Not only did I not have to drive, but she certainly helped make it possible for me to relax.

Submitted by Member Dottie

Collaboration with TTN-Home

TTN-Home, Ashby Village and North Oakland Village are pleased to announce a collaborative partnership which will produce events for the "East Bay Housing Options Series." The Transition Network ("TTN") is a nationwide organization of women over the age of 50 who are dealing with transitions in their lives - career, health, housing and relationships. "East Bay Housing Options Series" is TTN-HOME's in-depth monthly series which is designed to help participants identify available housing options and develop a plan to realize their individual long-term housing objectives.

Volunteer support given to members in the last quarter

Our caring, talented and enthusiastic service volunteers have answered a variety of member calls for assistance and have fulfilled many service requests including

• Help with iPhoto
• Creating a video of member reading her short stories
• Teaching how to use a flip cell phone
• Help making a casserole
• Mending clothing
• Organizing books for donating or retention
• Reading aloud from books and magazines
• Photographing personal items for insurance
• Helping to carry items to curbside recycling   

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BETH BURNSIDE

By Karin Evans

If there's anyone around Ashby Village these days who exemplifies the qualities of leadership, it's Beth Burnside, Professor Emerita of Cell and Developmental Biology and retired Vice Chancellor at the University of California, Berkeley. Currently a member of the Ashby Village Program Leadership Team, Burnside is devoting her considerable experience and energy to finding fresh ways to keep Ashby Village vital and viable. She's no stranger to challenges. While at the University, she oversaw the reorganization of the Life Sciences Departments and went on to streamline administrative procedures for science researchers.

Beth Burnside at the  2013 Ashby Village Holiday Party

Burnside found Ashby Village after reading an AARP article a few years back that explored the village movement taking root across the U.S. "I thought, this is such a good idea," she recalls. "I live alone and it appealed to me to join people who wanted to have that kind of community. I wondered at the time whether there might be something like that in Berkeley." About a year went by and Burnside got an email describing what Ashby Village was up to. "I thought, ah, there is one in Berkeley. I immediately joined."

Once a member, it took Burnside no time to get to work. "I felt very passionately about the village's mission," she recalls. She currently chairs the Neighborhood Group Council. "I have primarily been trying to get these neighborhood groups started, beginning with Kensington, working with Ashby Village Board member Betty Webster. We get together once a month to figure out ways to help established neighborhood groups thrive and get them started where no one has stepped up to be a coordinator. People from groups that are already active are volunteering to make themselves available to others who want to start up." Right now the team is working on starting up neighborhood groups in North Berkeley and in the Elmwood.

It can be a challenge to find people to assume a leadership role, Burnside admits. But she will be the first to say that the rewards of jumping in far outweigh the work involved. She still has time to engage in the artwork she always wanted to do but postponed when she was at University.

"I have very much enjoyed my involvement with Ashby Village," Burnside says. "The Village gathers together a remarkable group of people. It's an amazing organization. I haven't met anyone I haven't liked, and that's not something you can say about too many groups!"

Eleanor Lew is a volunteer with Ashby Village and a marriage and family therapist who practices in Berkeley and Emeryville. Her personal story, "One Moment You See, Then You Don't," about being diagnosed with degenerative myopia was published in the New York Times on August 21, 2014. After the diagnosis, Eleanor called around and, according to her, "found little help for the 'partly sighted' until a friend told me to call Ashby Village, one of about 120 'villages' that have been established throughout the country to help seniors live independently in their own homes. That's how I found Thelma Elkins, a 90-year-old former social worker who had just founded a support group for those losing their vision.

Thelma and the group have become my lifeline, a place where we can share notes about the newest research and talk about the anger and fears that at times overwhelm us. At the beginning, a few members didn't see the necessity of opening up and talking about feelings. They left the group. The rest of us understood the importance of staying connected to others, of countering the isolation that declining vision brings."  

Recognizing the Archstone Foundation

Lisa Brinkmann, Executive Director of Marin Villages, welcomes participants

Bay Area Village Exchange

Many Villages at the meeting shared a need for strategies and ideas to support the sustainability of their organizations. Another common thread was Villages in their early stages who need educational, organizational and financial resources. What was most meaningful was the clear desire of Villages to support each other, to collaborate and cultivate peer-to-peer relationship, as well as to keep meeting regularly. This is an important time for Ashby Village to be part of a regional Village movement.

HICAP

On Wednesday, September 24th, representatives from Ashby and San Francisco Villages introduced the Village movement to the California Department of Aging's Health Insurance Counseling and Advocacy Program (HICAP), which provides free, unbiased counseling related to Medicare. In addition to workshops directly related to Medicare, HICAP provides sessions of interest to people who work in the aging community. 

HICAP's planning committee responded favorably to the Village concept and requested more information about how it might work with the Village movement. Potential public and private partnerships were identified, and the important roles each of the entities play in healthy aging were recognized.

Program Leadership Team Chairs